Gown of Spanish Lace Movie Update

*Just as I stated a few days ago on my latest When Calls the Heart post- From now on I won't be posting any general updates about this film (Gown of Spanish Lace), as a new post but instead will be just updating this post. It's getting a little tedious re-writing and flipping back to my other posts on the same subject, plus this way we can keep all the new info in one tidy place. So keep checking this post for news on this film- any new information will be added to the top of this post with: UPDATE (DD/MM/YYYY). 

Just my own fan-made edit for 'Gown of Spanish Lace'
to brighten this post up :) (Edit: Pictures are not from the film )

Janette Oke's A Gown of Spanish Lace follows the journey of a young school teacher, Ariana who is abducted and held prisoner by a group of outlaws. Her presence in the camp of desperadoes creates quite a stir- and none more so than in the life of the outlaw boss' son, Laramie, who is charged with her care.  (For more information on the book you can check out my review here)


A Gown of Spanish Lace has been one of my favourite novels for quite a number of years now. I read it for the first time when I had just come through a particularly dark time in my life and reading this novel really helped me through it all. So if I seem over enthusiastic about the storyline, the characters and the upcoming movie you must understand that Ariana and Laramie have been some my closest friends in the most trying of times.  




Moving on (I can almost hear you saying 'Just get to the part about the movie already') I wrote a post previously explaining that A Gown of Spanish Lace was listed as an upcoming project on Michael Landon Jr's website (who many of you may know from his success with the various film adaptations of Janette Oke's Love Comes Softly series) I also noted in this post that this film was not confirmed. Now I can quite happily tell you that it's not just a rumor and that after a little searching I found a comment from Brian Bird (screenwriter and producer) below one of his posts to prove it:  

"As for “Gown of Spanish Lace,” stay tuned for more news — a screenplay is in the works"

and a few days or so ago I noticed a another comment on the Facebook page for When Calls the Heart (Janette Oke's other novel which is been adapted to screen) in response to a fan:

            "A script has been written for Gown of Spanish Lace... a film is in the planning stages."

Aren't we all excited!? I have to stop myself from breaking into some cheesy dance every time I think about it (hehe). With the news and updates looking to be far and few between as the film is still in early planning, I encourage you all if you haven't read the novel (or if its been a while) to grab a copy and give it a read. I'd love to hear what you thought of it, and i'd especially love to know which actors/actresses you'd dream cast for the various roles (and perhaps sometime in the future I can make a separate post detailing this).  

God Bless,

Mel xx

Note: All mentions of the film refer to it as 'Gown of Spanish Lace', omitting the 'A' included in the book title. I missed this tiny piece of information last time I wrote on this topic.

Book Review: A Gown of Spanish Lace

Title: A Gown of Spanish Lace

Author: Janette Oke

My Rating: 5/5

What is it about?
16 year old Ariana lives in a small western town with her loving parents. She has a relatively normal life working as the local schoolteacher- a job she enjoys immensely. Until one snowy day after classes have finished Ariana's life is turned upside down and she is abducted by two burly outlaws. With no idea why she has been taken prisoner Ariana spends her days in a locked up shoddy cabin in a camp full of men fearing for her life, only finding solace in her Bible.
Charged with guarding the prisoner, Laramie is the son of the outlaw leader.  Disturbed and worried when his father brings a young girl into the camp, he suddenly finds himself in an unlikely position.


My Thoughts:
This book is my favourite Janette Oke book so please bear with me as I have a little rant about it. Firstly I love this novel, Ariana is kind, sweet and so inspiring. In Ariana, Janette has built a strong but vulnerable character, she reacts to the frightening situation that she is in just as any 16 year old would be expected too. I love that Ariana cries and that she has normal fears. She is a great heroine who develops and matures throughout the novel.
Laramie is handsome, strong, kind and caring. He is a such a great hero, his compassion for people can be seen from the start however throughout the novel with God and Ariana's help he is able to break the ties that keep him down and truly become the man he was destined to be. Laramie is also a man of great honor- he is just wonderful.

The storyline is one of the best I have read, it surprised me and I really didn't see what was coming. I enjoyed it so much I literally could not put it down- I stayed up most of the night to finish it. The book has a real "Lorna Doone" feel to it especially within the camp of the outlaws. The only problem that I have with the novel is the ending, I can't quite put my finger on what I didn't like- perhaps I felt it was too rushed. Also I cannot help but wish that the novel was longer.

This book really is my favourite book of Janette's and is must read for any of her fans.

UPDATE (27/09/2012):  Also if your interested in this book you may want to check out the post I wrote detailing the movie adaptation of this book here.

Much Love,

Mel xx

Another possible Janette Oke film adaptation!!!!!

Okay, so this one is not at all confirmed like the previous Janette Oke movies I have posted about. When Calls the heart and the Love Comes Softly prequels; Love Begins and Love's Resounding Courage are definitely is some type of production state. However I stumbled across this today and I am so excited because this novel is my favourite non-Austen book....*drumroll* the book I am talking about is A GOWN OF SPANISH LACE!

I am so excited I want to scream right now! Becasuse after further research I have found that it is listed on both Michael Landon JR's and Brian Birds (screenwriter and producer) websites as a project in development *girlish screaming occuring right now*. To celebrate the possible film adaptation of this book, I will be posting the book review very shortly.

Much love from a very excited blogger,

Mel xx

ps. I hope someone understands this rant! I just love this book and the characters!